A/N: Here you have a long one, consider this as a new year's gift from me! Hope you won't get bored reading it. :)
Thanks to Isabella, Shippments4ever0725, FrankieFusciaxx, DwarvenWarrior, leah, Borys68, Birdy21, travellergirl, Rori and Kayla for their lovely reviews!
Also, I have a suggestion. :) When you read the part with trolls, you might want to listen to the "Roast Mutton". It's the song that played on the troll scene, in The Unexpected Journey.
Hope I pulled it off, it was a hard chapter to write!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my little fighter Fai.
"Since that day, there is one I could follow, there is one, I could call King."
Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór were sitting on a rock on the edge of the cliff, moonlight shining upon his raven black head. He was silent since the moment he scolded his nephews for joking about Orcs. He wasn't angry because he thought that they were disrespectful, there is no way on Middle-Earth that Dís raises impudent children. His anger arose from concern. A part of him was not feeling right for bringing them along, they were very young, ignorant, and stupidly brave.. Underestimating Orcs, now, how foolish was that? He feared their youth would be their-
And he loved those boys as his own, for he fathered them. He was always captured by his sacred duty though, so he took them along. They were Durin's sons after all, they were the future kings. And one of Thorin's responsibilities was to teach them how to be a true king. Fili and Kili, their presence was an absolute must in the day they took back Erebor. That'll be one hell of a tale to be told through centuries, and he wanted his heirs there the day they have fulfilled the Prophecy. Lost inside his head, King without a mountain beheld the pale horizon.
"Did you really have to make 'em sad, old lad?" protested Bofur, out of spirit, looked at Balin. Kept his voice down enough. "Look at them faces."
"I know the lads meant no harm, but this is a story we all have to remember every once in a while, especially on this lonely quest of ours.."
A sorrowful silence had been dawned upon them, making everyone sit on sidelines. Kili and Fili were restlessly settled by the fire, their backs leaned against the cold stone wall. Fai and Ori were sitting a bit further and she was stooped over something that looked like a very thick book. Ori's been carrying this huge journal of his with him everywhere, and accepted to show her when she curiously asked about it. "I am going to write and sketch everything." he said with his sweet and kind voice, "I've already documented plenty. Look." There was something about the way he talked, he was kind of lingering on the words, holding on to them a little bit more than he should. But surprisingly, it suited him.
When looked at the page he turned, Fai's jaw dropped in maze, she was on the journal! He'd drawn her sleeping by the fire in Bag End, with Oin tending her wound and then there was also Fili and Kili, looking at her with puzzled expressions on their faces. "Ori, this is amazing!" she said, "These are the best drawings I've ever seen! Can I, you know, look at the others as well?"
"No, I mean, excuse me, but those are not finished.." he said, "Promise I will show them once they're done."
Fai nodded in agreement and looked around. It was her first night on the quest. It was her first night in the wild. She's never been the camping type so she didn't exactly know how she's going to sleep. She didn't know how to keep herself warm. And to be honest.. She was scared. The Orc voices they heard before really freaked her out, although she did everything to hide it.
She wanted to get close to the fire, maybe warming up her body would warm up her thoughts as well. Suddenly her eyes shone mischievously. "Hey! Bofur!" she called out. "Wanna see a trick?"
Bofur raised his head and eyed her with curiosity. "Hit me, lassie!"
Fai got support from her arms and slowly lifted herself up. Keeping herself balanced, she managed to raise herself on her two feet. "No, Kili it's OK!" Fai prevented a really worried Kili from helping her. But he didn't even hear. "If you fall you'll get worse and then you couldn't be trained or run or hide or-"
"Here you go girl!" Bofur's laugh interrupted his chained objections and he finally realized that Fai was actually walking around.
"It's not hurting as much. I can step on it now." said Fai with a smile on her face. "Thanks to this fine lad of yours," she turned in Oin's direction and dropped a curtsey. Oin watched her with amusement.
"Can I sit with you guys?" she then asked. She felt the need to ask first, because before Kili jumped on his feet with worry, they seemed to have a conversation going on between them.
"Don't even ask," smiled Fili in return, and scooted over to the side so she could sit closer to the fire. Fai again stopped Kili from helping her, altough he tailed her closely and was ready to catch her whenever. She was finally settled in between the brothers and sat there silently while enjoying the fire warming her face.
"Well, how are you holding up so far?" the blond prince asked. "Do you need anything?"
"It's fine," Fai lied, she could definitely use couple more layers of clothing on her in that moment. Sitting by the fire was alright, however it would burn out in a few hours and she didn't even want to think about the cold. "Everything's fine. My leg, the food, riding on the pony, it's all fine. Once you train me, it'll all be even better."
"We'll see to it tomorrow," smiled Kili. "No worries."
It was the dead of night. Wind was howling and great numbers of eerie voices could be heard from far, far away. In where they sleep, however, there was a musical of various snorings. Somehow, dwarves were managing to be even boisterous while asleep. However, there was two that's been wide awake. Gloin, who took the watch and Fai, who couldn't fall asleep because of the perishing cold. Her bed was spread in between the cavity's wall and Kili. She held on to her cloak tighter and scooted just a little bit further towards Kili, in order to keep her back distanced from the cold stone wall.
Getting sick would be beyond terrible, and Fai couldn't recall a character that got down with the flu. Well, she would be the first one then. And what were all those noises anyway? She doesn't like to be a chicken all the time, and she has never considered herself a coward back on Earth, but in Middle-Earth everything was new, intimidating and dreadful. Now it was understandable to her the reason why Bilbo hesitates at first. She'd give anything to feel like when she did in Shire again. Bewildered still, but somehow in peace at the same time.
"Oh for Mahal - what's with the clattering?"
Fai startled from the very sleepy voice came out of Kili. His eyes were still closed, she could see in the dark that he was scowling.
"I-I do-n't h-hear anyt-t-thing."
"That's because you were the who making it! Holy Halls of Mandos, you are freezing!" he whispered in the dark, he could've shout if it wasn't for the sleeping dwarves. He immediately took his own cloak and tucked Fai tightly, like he did back in Bag End. "Why didn't you wake me up? Why didn't you say something?" He was rubbing her cloak-cocoon from the sides swiftly, to warm her up as fast as possible.
Fai opened her mouth in an attempt to respond, but stopped in the half-way. She didn't want to stutter more, and honestly she didn't have any answer that would sound logical.
After a while, he stopped moving and looked at her, she could see the worry in his eyes. She got finally warmed and if it was any other dwarf, she'd jump right out and hug him in gratitude, but it was Kili and she just couldn't.
"Can we go back to sleep?" he whispered, seeing her cheeks red again swept off the worry in him. She was nearly blue, for Mahal's-
Fai nodded in return and Kili lay back down on his bed. She closed her eyes and felt really close to falling asleep. Couldn't help but notice the scent spreading from the cloak she's been wrapped.. It belonged to Kili, and became more and more familiar in only two days. Minutes later, she heard the noise this time.
"Now I see what's it with the clattering." said Fai, keeping really quiet because of Gloin. Opened her eyes, only to found Kili lying on his side and his teeth chattering from the cold. "Here, take this. I can't let you freeze because of me, and I'm not even cold anymore."
He objected with a shivering whisper. "N-no b-bloody w-way. You w-will be cold again a-anyways."
"I won't sleep here all fluffy and warm while you freeze to death! Besides, if one of his princes die on me, probably Thorin would push me off a cliff and don't regret it even the slightest." It was even harder to protest in whisper. But harder, not impossible.
Kili laughed at her words with great difficulty from shivering. He didn't know what should they do. Finding another cloak would only be possible in the morning, as of now walking over this field of sleeping dwarves was unthinkable. "S-so, what d-do we do?"
She stood there in silence, without moving a single muscle. Only one thing popped up in her mind and she couldn't believe what she was about to do next. Too shy to say something, she slowly removed the cloak Kili gave and scooted closer to the dwarf who trembles like an aspen leaf. So close, in fact that there was only inches between them. She covered them both with the cloak. Kili was also silent, which was unusual really. Now they were both shivering, for reasons unclear. Of course, it could still be the cold. They weren't hugging or doing anything close to that. They just had to stay really close in order to be covered completely. Still, it was pretty intimate and made them both nervous.
She then mumbled quietly, "Uhm, we better, you know.. Wake up really early in the morning so-"
"-that no one finds us like this, yes."
They smiled shyly at each other before closing their eyes. Kili's no more stuttering voice whispering "Sleep tight." was the last thing she heard.
"Wake up lass, time to go."
She hardly opened up her eyes and saw Bofur leaning on her, giving her a slight nudge on the shoulder. Just in a second, all the memories from last night dawned on her and she turned to her side in panic. Kili wasn't there.
"Easy there, easy.. Get ready love, we're leaving in 5." Quite short on her breath, she stood up and searched for the back pack they gave her.
"Think fast laddies!" shouted Bombur. He was throwing various foods and fruits to each of them. So that was how they had breakfast on the run. Fai saw the bread meant for her flying towards her in a challenging angle. She reflexively jumped and caught the bread he shot out. Not forgetting to give herself the credit for that catch, she shouted back. "Thanks!" So her leg really was better.
Her eyes searched for Kili, she was dying to learn if anyone saw them like that. However, he was standing beside Thorin and Dwalin and the nervous expression on their faces sent chills down her spine. She tried to look away and ate her bread quietly.
They were on the road again in several minutes. Fai was riding along Bilbo this time. The opportunity of talking to Bilbo made her happy, however she was still pretty nervous about before.
"Good morning, Mr Baggins." she said, with a smile on her face. "How are you feeling today? Did you get used to your pony?" If a hobbit can't cheer her up, then nobody can.
The company rode all day, without giving long breaks. By the night time, they found a place that feels relatively safe and settled for the night. It only took Thorin 3 minutes to put Gandalf out of his temper. Wizard stormed out with massive anger, and no one knew where he left. Balin watched the whole fight in distress and thought if he left for good.
On the other side of the whereabouts, Fai finally caught Kili alone. She had been trying to talk to him actually, right from the moment she woke up. But for whatever reason, Kili didn't leave Thorin's side all day even for a bloody moment.
"I did it again, haven't I?" she said, approaching him from behind.
The dark haired dwarf turned around in panic, to her surprise. "HEY- I didn't hear you coming.. You did what again?"
"Sorry, didn't mean to creep up on you like that.. I did that thing, you know, that sleeping like a log thing.. When I woke up you were gone, and I thought tha-"
His laugh interrupter her. "No, no, you were sleeping just fine. It's just, there was no need to wake you up, I woke up before everyone and you know, got out of our bed. I mean bed, the bed." He couldn't believe in his big mouth. Our bed, really? Way to go Kili, way to go.
However there was the biggest relieve on her face, she probably didn't hear anything that comes after 'waking up before everyone' part. "HE didn't see us? He didn't? Oh my, oh really I am the happiest Kili."
It was the first time she called him by his name and it felt weirdly beautiful.
"Who didn't see us?"
"Thorin, of course! I thought I had slept in and you couldn't wake up in time as well.. And when I looked around I saw you with your uncle and Dwalin, both had the unhappiest faces ever. I thought, they were somewhat scolding you for- you know."
They were both laughing at her hysterical assumptions, till someone cursed in Khuzdul.
"Fili, what in the-?" His brother were standing right behind them, stunned, with two bowls filled with food in his hands.
"Someone should send a raven out to our mother, for both of his sons are dead men now."
In a moment of pure awakening, Fai slapped her forehead. Her eyes were twice the size. She knew what was going on, oh, she knew it so well.
"Kili, did we always have fourteen ponies?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
Now it was Kili's turn to be petrified. He couldn't even let one word out. All the while Fai was trying to figure out how to deal with the situation, since it wasn't going as she knew it would. Bilbo was supposed to be here, however he was sitting very far away surrounded by dwarves.
"Should we tell Thorin?" Fili asked.
"Why don't you just give him a shovel and make him dig our graves himself? We should ask Bilbo for help. In fact he is the Burglar and he should know best." Brothers started a discussion about who to go and it was growing pretty wild. About five minutes later when they finally agreed on calling Bilbo, that was when things went crazy.
"Tell me she's not here because she went to get Bilbo," said Kili, his eyes closed and fists clenched.
Fili looked around shook his head no. There was no footsteps on the soil going backwards. "So," said Fili sarcastically, taking a huge breath. "We've managed to lose 2 ponies, and a girl in only 15 minutes."
That was Kili who hurled a pompous curse this time.
"Oh, that's lovely, that is; a floater" said Bert. He seemed like the ugliest, or at least it was what Fai decided. He were blind on one eye, and remarkably bigger than the others. She were behind them, her breath held tightly. They were bigger than she imagined, so big in fact, crouching down would be enough to hide from them.
The smell, the smell was unbelievable. She heard one of the trolls sneezing into the supper, and the other one complimenting on that. She were freaking out, but weirdly, it wasn't the trolls that scared her, it was the possibility of getting caught. Trolls looked creepy and wild and all, however their idiocity were making them less frightening.
She were hiding behind William. Facing the ponies, she tried to keep them quiet. They looked really happy to see her, squirming in their places where trolls put them.
"I hope you're gonna gut these nags. I don't like the stinky parts." said William, taking a look back upon his shoulder. As he attempted to stand up, Fai crouched so hard and became even smaller than a hobbit.
"I said sit down!" Bert hit him on the face with a spoon and made him sit down again. She was feeling the fabric of his underpants brushing her back. They were nagging and cooking, and I got this, thought Fai, drawing out one of the daggers Fili gave her. She were cutting the rope when William snooze again.
She had no idea what hit her. William wanted to tear a piece from his pants, he accidentally grabbed Fai instead. And literally smashed her to his face.
I want to die, she thought, covered entirely in something really sticky and gross, unfortunately happened to be the slime of William.
"Argh! Blimey! Bert! Bert! Look what's come out of me 'ooter! It's got arms and legs and everything." Perfect. Now William was swinging her around in panic.
"Ah please, you'd be only lucky to have me coming out of your nose!" she blurted in a moment of rage. And regretted even before the last word came out.
All three of them were gathered around, she saw 6 eyes, well 5 if you consider Bert's condition, looking directly at her. If you aren't the biggest idiot ever, Fai, then I don't know who is. Now they were arguing over whether she's edible or not.
"What are you, you wriggly thing, and 'r you for eatin'?"
She rolled her eyes at the stupidity of his question, as if she would tell him that she's edible. Yeah they're fooler than you, congrats girl. "I'm not a wriggly thing, I'm Fai." she said, causing William to squeeze her in anticipation.
"A Fai? What's thaa' and can we eat it anyway' " said Tom, fidgeting around with a confused face. It was kind of amusing, really, if she was not covered in snot and about to be eaten by three idiot trolls.
"It's lyin' Bert! Hold its toes over fire! Make it sque-aaaaa!" Tom's last word turned into a scream, as he started jumping around on one foot, while holding the other in pain.
"Drop her!"
Three huge, and one very small head instantly turned into the direction where the voice came. Fai saw a really rampageous Kili standing across them, with his sword pointed at the trolls.
"You what?" said William, truly confused. When a troll didn't look confused anyways?
"I said, drop her." spoke Kili. Emphasizing each word with great anger.
And so he did! She really didn't understand how the hell they obeyed, but before she knew, she was on the air, flying towards Kili. She saw him releasing his sword and spreading his arms to catch her. In a blink of an eye, they collided. She was on top of him, making both of them covered in snot this time.
Trying to regain consciousness, she heard lots of voices shouting. Thorin at the frontmost, all of the dwarves attacked Trolls. Even Ori was there with a slingshot in his hands. She saw Bilbo in the crowd as well, near the ponies, in search of something to cut the rope. She quickly pulled away from Kili, and he ran to pick up his sword. Both of Fai's daggers were drawn. Kili and her, they stood back to back. Thrusting their knives into any body part of a Troll that came in their way.
For a moment, Fai saw Bifur headbutting Tom's leg. Remembering the axe buried in his head, she couldn't held her laughter in. Bifur looked remarkably enthusiastic when fighting. Dwalin was roaring right next to him, hammering William's legs intensely.
"Watch out!" shouted Kili, Bert was on top of them, making a gesture of picking one of them up. "Got it," Fai shouted in return and they both stabbed the Troll in his finger. There was no time to high-five, but it would definitely be fantastic.
Dori fought near Ori and Nori, while Thorin stabbed some troll in the butt. They saw Bofur jumping around with his axe and then there was Bombur, beating Tom's knee with an iron ladle?!
Fili ran into them and kept up his guard. "Are you OK?!" he asked quickly, Fai and Kili nodded both. The trio got down on the ground and glided in between Bert's leg, and Fili stabbed him in the thigh when he turned around.
Suddenly, it all stopped. Trying to understand why the others don't fight anymore, Kili looked up and saw Bilbo in Trolls' hands, each held on to one limb.
"Bilbo!" shouted the prince, darting forward, only to be stopped by Thorin.
"Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off." said Tom.
After a moment of hesitation, Thorin thrusted his sword into the soil, surprising everyone.
Minutes later, they were all unarmed and bagged, half of them tied onto a stick, while others were lying on the ground. They looked like worms, wriggling around like that. Bilbo was trying to save them, but he sounded like a nut. Only Fai caught on his little game and attempted to help, while all the others tossed death threats around.
Trolls were growing impatient and even hungrier, when William picked up Bombur, Bilbo protested in fear.
"No, no, not that one, he - he's infected!"
William looked at him in disbelief.
"Yes," Fai supported the wise Hobbit. "Yeah, yes, he got worms in his tubes."
William immediately dropped Bombur back to the pile of dwarves on the ground. His heavy weight made them moan in pain. Bilbo, however, continued with hope. "In fact, they all are infected! Yeah, they are filled parasites. It's disgusting, really, I wouldn't risk it."
Apparently, Kili wasn't fond of the idea. "We don't have parasites! You have parasites!"
"Dude, really?" muttered Fai, rolling her eyes. Tried to elbow him but it was impossible when one is shoved in a bag.
Even Oin without his hearing trumpet caught up! "I've got parasites as big as my arm." Fai bit her lips to not laugh.
"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!" said an overly-eager Kili. It seemed to be turning into a competition, as all the other dwarves began to describe their imaginary parasites. At one point, it became so absurd that even Bifur was mumbling in Khuzdul about his parasites.
It was then they heard the old, but strong and familiar voice of their beloved wizard.
"The dawn will take you all!"
Now the Trolls were discussing whether they could eat Gandalf. In the meantime he quickly struck his staff to the huge rock he's standing on, split it in half and let the bright beams of sunlight came in and blind them all.
Ending Note: I wish you all a happy new year! :3 Reviews are as always, overly welcomed!
